(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) The US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) on Wednesday released a statement in response to Vice President JD Vance’s reference to the Catholic Church’s just war theory while criticizing Pope Leo XIV’s recent comments on war.
Vance made the comments at a Turning Point USA event on Tuesday night, saying that Pope Leo should be “careful” when discussing these matters.
“In the same way that it’s important for the vice president of the United States to be careful when I talk about matters of public policy, I think it’s very, very important for the pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology,” said Vance, who has made baseless claims about Iran’s nuclear program to justify the US-Israeli war against the country.
The vice president continued, “When the pope says that God is never on the side of people who wield the sword, there is more than a 1,000-year tradition of just war theory. We can, of course, have disagreements about whether this or that conflict is just.”
Vance was referencing an address Pope Leo recently delivered to a group of members of the Chaldean Church of Baghdad, whose communities were torn apart by the US invasion of Iraq, an excerpt of which was posted to his X account. “God does not bless any conflict. Anyone who is a disciple of Christ, the Prince of Peace, is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs,’ Leo said.
The US-born pope made similar remarks in his homily on Palm Sunday. “Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war. He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them, saying: ‘Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: your hands are full of blood’ (Is 1:15),” he said.
In response to Vance, Bishop James Massa, chair of the USCCB’s Committee on Doctrine, defended Pope Leo and clarified just war theory.
“For over a thousand years, the Catholic Church has taught just war theory and it is that long tradition the Holy Father carefully references in his comments on war. A constant tenet of that thousand-year tradition is a nation can only legitimately take up the sword ‘in self-defense, once all peace efforts have failed’ (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2308).
That is, to be a just war it must be a defense against another who actively wages war, which is what the Holy Father actually said: ‘He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war,’” Massa said.
“When Pope Leo XIV speaks as supreme pastor of the universal Church, he is not merely offering opinions on theology, he is preaching the Gospel and exercising his ministry as the Vicar of Christ. The consistent teaching of the Church is insistent that all people of good will must pray and work toward lasting peace while avoiding the evils and injustices that accompany all wars,” the bishop added.
Earlier this week, Vance, a Catholic who has a book coming out about his conversion this year, was asked about President Donald Trump’s attack on Pope Leo and said that it would be better for the Vatican to stick to “matters of morality,” appearing to suggest that the US vice president does not believe war is a moral issue.
This article originally appeared at Antiwar.com.
